


A Delicate Pattern

by theianitor



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, M/M, Magical Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 12:52:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8980537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theianitor/pseuds/theianitor
Summary: Sebastian sometimes took on tattoo-projects that were too big for him, leaving him tired and magically drained. Jenson’s way of helping was always to give Seb something to eat and drink and then send him to bed, and usually it worked well. This time, for some reason, it hasn't worked.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheFlirtMeister](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFlirtMeister/gifts).
  * Inspired by [An Intricate Design](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8388544) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



> (Rated T for mentions of sex and a hint of swearing) Since I got An Intricate Design, this has been rattling around in my head. I finally got it written, and just in time for Christmas too! :) Thank you for everything, Flirt. <3 Never stop writing!

Jenson could tell from the way the door closed that Sebastian had had a rough day in the tattoo shop. Usually he came home with a bit of a racket; dropping his bag on the floor, slamming the door behind himself and shouting that he was home. Today the door closed softly, the lock barely clicked, and the bag was hung carefully on its hook like Sebastian was trying to avoid making too much noise. Britta, Sebastian’s cat familiar, silently came in from the hallway and went straight for Jenson, stroking herself against his leg once before heading for the bedroom. She kept her tail low and her fur looked a little mussed. When even _she_ looked worse for wear, it must have been a bad day.

Peeking around the corner he saw Sebastian was still standing in the hall, his jacket halfway down his arms.

“Seb?”

“Hm?” He looked up like he was a little surprised to see Jenson in his own apartment.

“Are you okay?”

“Mhm.” When he had stood there for a few seconds, making no effort to take the jacket off, Jenson came over to help him. Sebastian walked like his feet were made of lead as Jenson guided him into the kitchen. To stop him falling asleep at the table he gave him a big glass of cold water to sip while he made him a sandwich. Seb started out just picking at the food, but as he ate, Jenson could see his energy starting to return.

“It didn’t seem so big when I sketched it,” Sebastian finally said with the smallest possible measure of apology in his voice.

“Kimi told you to do it in sessions, I bet,” Jenson said. Sebastian shrugged but the way his cheeks colored, Jenson knew he was right.

“I’ll be fine in the morning,” Sebastian mumbled.

Jenson knew very well that Kimi would have told Seb to make shorter sessions out of a larger piece, staggering the inking and the spellwork out into manageable portions. He also knew awfully well how stubborn Seb could be. Sebastian respected Kimi and his experience, but sometimes it was like he just had to prove himself.

 

Unusually large or complex tattoos, ones that required more focused spellwork, were always harder on the artist. It had happened a few times now that Sebastian had taken on big projects and come home utterly drained. Jenson’s tactic when it happened was to give him something to eat and drink and then send him to bed, and usually it worked well.

Turning over with another sigh, Sebastian had to face the facts however; tonight, for whatever reason, the tactic wasn’t working. It was like he was too tired to fall asleep. The food had helped a little but his energy was still really low. He could feel it, a weak little tingle when he flexed his hands – but if he tried to channel it for anything right now he’d probably stub it out completely. It was much easier to recharge when sleeping, but stressing about not being ready for tomorrow really wasn’t helping him go to sleep any quicker. He sighed and turned over, again.

“Can’t sleep?” Jenson’s voice was muffled by the pillow and Sebastian realized his last toss and turn must have woken him up.

“Sorry,” he said, feeling ashamed. “I’ll go sleep on the couch...”

“Don’t be silly, come here.” Jenson pulled him a little closer and he shivered as warm breath tickled the back of his neck. Being close was comforting and relaxing, but he still felt like there was an itch under his skin. He couldn’t keep from rubbing his feet against the bed and wriggling around, still unable to find peace. After a while, Jenson groaned and sat up. In the dark Seb could just make out his silhouette, sitting in a nest of bed linen with his floppy hair poking up in all sorts of directions.

“Come here, turn around,” he said, pulling at Sebastian’s covers.

“What?” Seb asked incredulously. “No, I’m not in the mood.” He held on to his covers.

“I’m in the bloody mood for _sleep_ , now get over here!” Jenson managed to get Seb sitting up on the bed with his back to him. He put his hands on Seb’s shoulders and let them slide down to his shoulder blades.

“Let’s see if I remember how to do this...” he muttered.

“Do what? I’m not sure a backrub will help me sleep...”

“No, my mum used to do this thing when I had trouble settling down...” he moved his hands from Seb’s shoulders down to his shoulder blades again. It was nice and all, but Seb was pretty sure it wouldn’t send him to sleep. When Jenson moved his hands again, Seb gasped. He had felt something moving.

“Do that again,” he whispered. Jenson obliged and now that he was ready for it, Seb could clearly feel his tiny, tingling energy moving up his arms. It was like his magic was coming closer to see what Jenson was doing.

Warm fingertips brushed across Sebastian’s skin, from his arms to his spine, repeating the motion three times before stroking up the back of his neck. It was like a very soft massage and Sebastian felt his energy shift from that prickly tingling to something slower, something less sharp.

Jenson moved his hands, running his thumbs up either side of the back of Seb’s neck while pressing carefully just behind his ears. He kept the motion slow and when his fingers moved on one side, he mirrored it on the other. Pressing his thumbs in a little harder he ran them down either side of Seb’s spine. Before he was halfway down his back Sebastian’s eyes closed, his breathing slowed, and he slumped over on the bed fast asleep. Jenson tucked the covers around him and lay down, sighing contently. He was asleep within a minute.

 

\--

 

The next morning the alarm blared and Sebastian forced his eyes open. He felt awful. His muscles were tender and his mind was sluggish – it reminded him forcefully of the morning after his first Friday out with Kimi, where the Finn had insisted that if he drank only one type of alcohol all night, he wouldn’t have a hangover. To prove his point Kimi had bought him way too many drinks, and Sebastian wasn’t entirely sure he had been sober when Monday rolled around and he had to go back to work.

On the other side of the bed Jenson stirred, stretching before he turned to Sebastian.

“Morning,” he said, kissing Seb’s exposed shoulder before getting out of bed and padding away towards the bathroom.

Sebastian raised himself up carefully. His arms felt weak and his legs weren’t cooperating. He’d slept way too little and work wasn’t going to be much fun today. Thinking about the constant buzzing of the tattoo-machines made his head ache worse. Britta hopped up onto the bed and nudged his hand, meowing softly. Stroking her made him feel a little better and he could feel her energy pulsing up through the palm of his hand. Getting a good night’s sleep had obviously done her a world of good.

 

He got through a small breakfast and got down to the shop. He turned the lights on and put Britta’s basket in the corner. As soon as she had done her customary morning round of the shop she went back to the basket and fell asleep.

“That’s all well and good for _some_...” Seb grumbled at her. He started making coffee; he’d need massive amounts of caffeine to get through this day.

“You look like shit,” Kimi greeted as he walked through the door. Ajax bounded past him to find Britta in her basket and immediately stuck his nose into the sleeping bundle of cat, waking her up. “Is it catching?”

“I’m not sick,” Seb explained, “I was just really tired after that huge piece yesterday and didn’t get enough sleep.”

Kimi looked him up and down.

“Your magic is not right,” he said after a few seconds. Both the familiars stopped playing around and looked over at them.

“I can work, I’m just a bit tired!”

“No,” Kimi said with finality. “You can spend the day sketching or scheduling or whatever, but you’re not working on anyone today.”

Sebastian wanted to argue but what Kimi said was how it would be. He contented himself with slouching off to the break room, at least indicating he wasn’t going to be happy with it. When Kimi came in to check on him around lunch, Sebastian was on his back on their worn leather couch, fast asleep with Britta curled up on his chest.

 

A couple of hours later Sebastian woke up slowly, feeling like he had indeed slept on an old couch. Generally he felt a little bit better, but he still had a headache. On the table sat two take-away boxes from the nearby Indian place and a fork; he had definitely missed lunch. He sat up and opened the box with the curry in it. It was cold, but it still tasted pretty good. Kimi suddenly poked his head into the room.

“You’re up? Good. Jenson should be here in a little while.”

“Jenson? Why is he coming here?”

“To pick you up,” Kimi said, rolling his eyes like Sebastian was being stupid for asking.

“He doesn’t need to pick me up and... I didn’t ask him to?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kimi took Sebastian’s phone out of his pocket and threw it beside him on the couch. “There’s your phone back.”

“I don’t need him to pick me up!” Sebastian didn’t know why, but it suddenly felt like a matter of principle. He was an adult and sick or not, he could take care of himself.

“You will when she’s done with you,” Kimi grinned.

“Is he awake yet?” a familiar female voice called from behind Kimi.

“Yup, you can have him now.”

Kimi got out of the way and Minttu stepped into the room. She was dressed in black as always, and fixed Sebastian with her piercing blue eyes, a hint of a smile on her lips.

“Hi Seb.”

 

\--

 

Sebastian never felt quite at ease around Minttu. He _liked_ her well enough, and she was Kimi’s wife, but... she had always felt a bit dangerous. Then again, she knew Seb had had an embarrassing crush on Kimi, she knew that they had kissed, and she didn’t mind. In fact, she always insisted that she found Sebastian cute.

“Your energies are completely off,” she said bluntly, sitting down on the couch next to Seb, who realized he was staring at her with his mouth open and half full of curry. He snapped his mouth shut and swallowed hard.

“Yeah I did a big piece yesterday and...”

“No it’s something else,” she dismissed. “How did you sleep last night?”

“Pretty bad,” Sebastian said, but he was sure she already knew.

“Anything else?”

“What do you mean, ‘anything else’?”

Minttu rolled her eyes much like Kimi had a little while ago.

“Did you do anything else? Eat, drink, have a bath...” she lowered her voice and smirked at him, “... have sex..?”

“No!” Sebastian spluttered. “No I mean I eh...” She seemed to be enjoying his discomfort. “I had a sandwich and drank water and then I went to bed. To sleep.” He made sure to clarify the last bit.

Minttu took his hand and her skin was cool against his. She pressed her thumbs against his palm and looked thoughtful.

“Nothing else?” she asked again.

“No... well, Jenson gave me a backrub. To help me sleep.”

She pressed her thumbs down a little harder and Sebastian gasped. He could clearly feel her energy, like cold, wispy smoke, making its way up inside his arm.

“Seb,” she said, sounding a little amused, “have you and your boyfriend been messing around with magic?” She was staring straight into his eyes, like she was looking for any hint that he might be lying.

“No..?” Sebastian whispered, that smoky energy still seeking out his own warm, sparking magic. It had made it to his chest now and moved towards his back, swirling against him.

“There we are...” Minttu said, closing her eyes. The chill Sebastian had felt turned into something like a warm breeze, stroking his back softly and then dissolving. He instantly felt a little better, more stable than he had since last night. Minttu let go of his hand and shook her own like she was shaking water off of them.

“You never told me Jenson had any magic at all,” she said, smiling again.

“That’s because he doesn’t,” Sebastian replied, moving his shoulders a little. It finally felt like that tenderness was starting to pass, now he was just stiff from sleeping on the damn couch. Jenson was fascinated by Seb’s magic, the smallest things impressed him since he couldn’t do any of it himself and Sebastian loved having his rapt attention while doing something as simple as cleaning ink from his hands. He still couldn’t do it as effortlessly as Kimi, but Jenson made him feel like he was doing something utterly awe-inspiring.

“Magic or not, he forgot to close you up.” Minttu got up and started making coffee.

“Close me... up?”

“He... never mind, I’ll explain when he gets here. He can’t leave you like that so he needs to stop it, or learn to do it better,” she said matter-of-factly. “Coffee?”

Kimi poked his head into the room again.

“Seb, there’s a Mr. Bottom here to see you,” he deadpanned. Sebastian snickered.

 

Kimi grabbed a cup of coffee and left again, leaving Minttu, Jenson, and Sebastian in the break room. Britta came in, rubbing herself against Jenson’s leg before jumping up on the couch to settle in Seb’s lap.

“You can stay as long as you don’t interfere,” Minttu said to the familiar, who just shot her a disdainful look. Britta had never much liked it when there were women around Sebastian.

“So you have magic, and you never told Seb, and I’d like to know why?”

Sebastian was used to how Kimi and Minttu both had a way of not saying much, and not beating around the bush when they did say something. Jenson was not, and looked a little shocked.

“I don’t have... that,” he said, and Minttu was looking at him the same way she had been staring at Sebastian earlier.

“Well, then we’re going to go to Sebastian’s office, and you can show me exactly what you did so we can prevent you ever doing it again.”

“I didn’t do anything, I just... my mum did this thing when I couldn’t sleep, I was kind of a handful when I was a kid and she would rub my back to calm me down,” Jenson explained. “But my mum isn’t magic either.”

 

\--

 

Minttu led them both into Sebastian’s office and offhandedly told Seb to take off his shirt. Before she addressed Jenson at all, she got Sebastian to lie down on his front on the tattooing-table.

“Now show me what you did,” she said, rounding on Jenson.

“He was sitting up though,” he said, sounding a little less sure of himself than he usually did. Apparently Sebastian wasn’t the only one who felt it was best to be a little cautious around Minttu.

“He’ll be more comfortable like this, now show me.”

It took a few seconds but then Sebastian felt Jenson’s hands on his shoulders, just like last night, sliding down. He was moving more quickly than he had been before, like he was nervous.

“It’s okay Jense, take it slow,” Sebastian encouraged. He heard Jenson take a deep breath, his movements slowing. He moved his hands in similar patterns, repeating everything three times over before moving on. After a little while, Seb felt the same kind of tingling he had experienced the night before.

“You don’t see that?” Minttu asked.

“No? See what?” Jenson said, confused.

“Alright, hold your hands still. Right there, under his skin. You don’t feel that?”

“Feel..?” Jenson started, but then he gasped and his hands were gone from Seb’s back. “What the hell was that?!”

“Put your hands back, it’s just his energy,” Minttu said. She sounded like she was telling a child to stop being fussy about eating their vegetables. Carefully, softly, Jenson’s hands were placed on Seb’s back again.

“It’s like something is... bubbling. Like a soda,” Jenson said, speaking quietly.

“But you don’t see anything?” Minttu prompted. Sebastian knew what she was getting at; he had always been able to see magic, it came in every color and glowed, pulsed, sparkled, smoked... it was, in short, magical.

“No?” Jenson replied, “I can feel something though, like it’s inside his skin.”

“Hm,” Minttu said. “Alright, keep going.”

Jenson kept moving his hands, slowly going over roughly the same patterns he had been tracing last night. Suddenly Minttu interrupted him.

“Stop, right there.”

Sebastian had just started to feel his eyelids grow heavy but now he was awake again.

“You’re leaving it open.”

“Leaving _what_ open?” Jenson asked.

“How do you know what you’re doing if you can’t see it?” Minttu asked, but from the tone of her voice it was a rhetorical question.

“I’m just kind of feeling my way around..?”

“Okay, then... a little to the left, and up? Can you feel that?”

Jenson moved his hands and now Sebastian felt it too. It was small, but there was a divide in the pattern, a little loop that Jenson had missed.

“Now do this.” Minttu must have showed him in the air, but Jenson copied something on his back that made Sebastian shiver.

“Ah, okay... I think I get it,” Jenson said, doing what he had just done again, but backwards. Sebastian felt an uncomfortable stinging.

“Don’t,” he said, speaking to the floor.

“Sorry, sorry.” Jenson did the same thing again. “So that’s it, I missed a... thing?”

 

Minttu showed him how to close the connection properly and when they were done she let Sebastian sit up on the table while Jenson got to sit in the tattoo-chair. She took off her cardigan and Sebastian gaped. She had a tank top on and Sebastian had never before seen her bare arms and shoulders. There was an intricate pattern of loops and swirls, thinner and thicker lines running all up her arms and down beneath the material on her back. He was suddenly sure that Kimi had tattooed most if not all of those lines. They glowed a soft, stable blue.

Minttu took Jenson’s hands. Right away his eyes grew wide and he looked like he wanted to pull away. Sebastian could understand him. If he had never felt it before other than in his own tattoos, it was probably a pretty overwhelming experience to have magic flow into him like that.

“You don’t have much energy,” Minttu said after a little while. “Try cutting me off.”

“Cutting you off?” Jenson asked.

“Grab hold of my energy and take it.” She was smiling at him like she was daring him to even try it. Kimi would have swooned, Sebastian thought to himself. Jenson looked like he was focusing with all his might.

“I... I don’t think I can,” he finally said.

“So you’ve only got your own power to work with, and you can’t transfer. That’s good,” she said encouragingly. “You won’t be draining Seb’s powers. Then again, you can’t really help him like Britta can either...”

“So what _can_ I do?”

“You can definitely settle his energies, I think that’s what your mother did to you to be honest. They can get a little... unruly, if you overwork them.” Jenson glanced at Sebastian, then back to Minttu. She raised a perfect eyebrow at him.

“How about we try a little experiment?”

 

\--

 

Sebastian found himself on his back this time and was still shirtless. It was somehow even more uncomfortable now that he could see the both of them standing there, looking down at him.

“Hands on his chest,” Minttu instructed, “and close your eyes.” When Sebastian shut his eyes Minttu actually laughed.

“Not you!”

She went to stand beside Jenson, who now had his eyes closed and looked like he was feeling quite unsure about what they were doing.

“Now think of Seb as a... blob.” Sebastian could tell from her voice that she found this highly amusing.

“A blob?”

“A blob, or any shape you can see in your mind.”

“Okay?” Jenson sounded so hesitant Seb wasn’t sure he understood at all.

“Now push your energy in to the shape,” she said, putting her hands on Jenson’s upper arms. Seb could see his dragon tattoo give a brief pulse of light. “Feel it down your arms, through your hands, and in to Seb.”

Jenson was concentrating like crazy; Sebastian could tell by the way his eyes were shut tight. Minttu moved her hands down Jenson’s arms, but before she reached Sebastian she stopped. Sebastian held his breath. He could feel something. Nowhere near as controlled as when Minttu did it but still, Jenson’s slightly fidgety energy danced in through his skin and vibrated happily inside him.

“Such a good boy you are,” Minttu praised, but Sebastian couldn’t really tell who she was talking to. “Try feeling your way around a little, you should be able to feel Seb’s energy like... kind of like a sparkler?”

“I... think I can? It’s moving around though.”

“It’s looking at what you’re doing,” Sebastian said.

“You’re not doing that?” Jenson’s voice was nervous again. Sebastian thought he had quite a lot to learn.

“No, I only control it when I _use_ it, and I can’t do... this thing that you two can.” He could feel Jenson’s energy, still a little jittery and small, moving around and pushing further away from Jenson’s hands. It was like he was daring to explore further and further with each pass, and Sebastian was proud of him. Then, he tensed. Jenson had moved his hands a little and the jumpy energy gave off that humming kind of vibration again. It also moved further down than it had before, and this was definitely something that did _not_ need to be explored in front of Kimi’s wife.

“... stop...” Sebastian breathed out helplessly.

“Focus a bit higher,” Minttu said, smirking. Sebastian had forgotten she could see magic too. Jenson and Seb both blushed.

 

When they were done Sebastian felt better than he had for a while now. Jenson was happily shocked about the whole thing, and Minttu looked at them like they were a pair of puppies when they sat together in the break room again. Sebastian was holding Jenson’s hand and was happy that it felt completely normal, no energies other than what it usually felt like when they touched. Minttu gave Jenson strict instructions to not play around with his, admittedly quite weak, magic until he had read up on the subject. Jenson swore that he wouldn’t, and Sebastian knew he’d stick to that – he didn’t want Minttu angry with him.

“You probably can’t imbue things, like Kimi and Seb do,” she theorized, sipping her glass of water. “I doubt you can actually push your magic out of yourself without touching someone else, and you probably can’t do much to someone who doesn’t have any magic at all.”

“That’s okay,” Jenson said, giving Sebastian’s hand a squeeze. “It’s kinda hard to miss what you’ve never had. I don’t know what I’d do with it anyway.”

Sebastian patted Britta with his free hand. The familiar had been much calmer since they came back, and she didn’t treat Jenson any differently. Seb suspected she had always been able to tell, but hadn’t had any way of telling him.

“I’m sorry about... eh... earlier,” Jenson said, not quite able to keep looking at Minttu when she smiled broadly. “Guess it takes a while to get it totally under control and I just... I didn’t mean to.”

“That’s okay, you’ll learn,” she took another sip of water. “I could show you a few tricks you know.” She winked, and Sebastian found himself blushing furiously at the thought of Jenson learning anything Minttu might call a "trick".

“We might have to practice on Kimi though, he usually doesn’t mind.”

Sebastian had no way of knowing if she was serious or not, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know either.

 

\-- The End --

**Author's Note:**

> This was all in good fun, as per usual. :)  
> Thanks for the read! Comments and kudos are loved and cherished. <3


End file.
